By Dr. Sawraj Singh
Putin is not only winning the ground war in Ukraine, he is also winning the psychological war in Europe and the rest of the world. More and more, Putin is emerging as a hero for the anti-globalization forces in the world. Putin has put Western leaders on the defensive. While the western leaders appear to be irritated and frustrated with what is going on, Putin appears relaxed. He smiles, jokes, and laughs. Putin exudes confidence and appears to be in control of things.
As a part of his psychological warfare, Putin decided to stay away from public life for ten days. This triggered rumor mills in the western media. Speculations ranged from him being overthrown, assassinated, in ill health, and even to planning a nuclear attack. Finally, Putin emerged from his self-imposed exile, appearing more relaxed and confident than ever. By raising the stakes to a nuclear war, Putin, for all practical purposes, has neutralized a military option for NATO. This is being perceived as a great victory by Putin’s followers and admirers.
Putin’s admirers now cover the whole span of the political spectrum: from extreme left to extreme right and everything in between. The leftists admire him for standing up to western imperialists. The rightists admire him for trying to preserve traditions. European nationalists like him for trying to free Europe from American domination. The anti-immigration forces in Europe appreciate him for trying to preserve the purity of Russian culture and ethnicity. Orthodox Christians adore him for promoting Christian values as opposed to consumerism.
How widespread support and admiration Putin enjoys can be judged by this example. A young man living in the Chandigarh area is an ardent and strong supporter and admirer of Putin because he sees parallels between the situations in Europe and Punjab. In Europe, globalization is diluting European national identity, and in Punjab, it is threatening the historically evolved JattSikh identity. This young man kept calling me again and again during the ten days of Putin’s absence from the media. After repeatedly reassuring him that Putin should be fine because he enjoys the support of the vast majority of Russians, I had to stop answering his calls.
There are many people all over the world who are getting frustrated with the present Globalization. They are blaming Globalization for the breaking of their families; and destroying or threatening their national, ethnic, or religious identity. Many, many people are holding Globalization responsible for taking away their traditional lifestyle.
The list and the spectrum of Putin’s followers and admirers keeps constantly expanding. Some people feel that Globalization deliberately causes anarchy to weaken established cultures and traditions, which it sees as an obstacle to the dehumanizing phenomenon of converting humans to consumers. Both Putin’s secret and open admirers are on the rise. His secret admirers may include not only religious leaders in Europe, but some western leaders who have to publicly take a stand against him. Many western European leaders are being forced to criticize Putin by high-handed American actions. America is twisting their arms to speak against Putin. I wonder if their words reflect their innermost feelings. I feel that by reviving European nationalism, Putin has been really successful in widening the trans-Atlantic gap. More and more European leaders will openly come out in support of Putin.
Putin is emerging as a champion of European nationalism and as a rallying point for anti-Globalization forces in the world. He is also emerging as a savior of traditional values and traditional lifestyles. While Putin’s influence is on the rise, American leaders are facing growing opposition to their policies of Globalization. America is the undeclared leader of present Globalization. Globalization has become a codeword for American hegemony. Besides the rise of the East, the rise of European nationalism can become the biggest challenge to American hegemony.
We can look at these trends in another manner. China is the representative of the rise of the East, and Russia is the representative of European nationalism. Putin represents the fusion of both of these trends. Putin is acting as a bridge between Europe and the East. He has redirected the course of Russia towards the East. Putin’s predecessors tried to tilt Russia towards the West and met with disastrous consequences. Putin has been successful in correcting those mistakes. Will India learn from the Russian mistakes, or will it like to make its own mistakes before it learns that looking East is the only viable option for India?
Dr. Sawraj Singh, MD F.I.C.S. is the Chairman of the Washington State Network for Human Rights and Chairman of the Central Washington Coalition for Social Justice. He can be reached at [email protected].
